Shawnee State rallies past Rio men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - For the University of Rio Grande it was another case of what might've been.
     For Shawnee State University, it was another notch in its belt of fallen opponents.
     But for the second time this season, it was a notch that proved difficult for the Bears to carve out.
     Jareon Mayo scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the second half and Ahmadou Aw netted all of his 13 points after halftime to lead Shawnee State in a come-from-behind 84-79 win over Rio Grande, Tuesday night, in a battle of River States Conference men's basketball rivals at the Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium.
     The Bears, who are leaving the league and the NAIA at the close of the current school year for the NCAA Division II Mountain East Conference, pushed their record to 19-4 overall and 11-0 in the RSC, completing a season sweep of the RedStorm in the process.
     Both of the wins - part of a 10-game SSU winning streak - came by just five points each.
     Rio Grande, which had a four-game winning streak snapped, dropped to 11-11 overall and 6-4 against conference foes.
     It was the RedStorm's ninth loss by eight points or less this season.
     Rio Grande opened up a seven-point halftime lead, 42-35, and extended the cushion to 10 points, 55-45, following a dunk by junior Kuba Senczyszyn (Algonquin, IL) with 15:08 left to play.
     The Bears methodically chipped away at the deficit, though, and eventually grabbed a 67-65 lead on a three-pointer by Mayo with 6:52 remaining.
     The game produced one tie and four lead changes the rest of the way, the last of which came when Shawnee's Kiante Williams hit the first of two free throw attempts to snap a 74-all deadlock with 2:17 left to play.
     Rio Grande got no closer than one point the rest of the way and the Bears extended their lead to 83-77 after a pair of Mayo free throws with 12 seconds remaining.
     The six-point cushion marked the largest lead of the night for the home team.
     Rio shot 51 percent overall (26-for-51) and just under 53 percent from distance (10-for-19), while also going 17-for-23 at the foul line (73.9%).
     Senior Delon McCloud scored a game-high 26 points in the loss for the RedStorm, while fellow seniors Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) and Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) added 16 and 11 points, respectively.
     McCloud and senior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) had four rebounds each, while Robertson and freshman Brody Buchanan (Proctorville, OH) had four assists apiece and Fox finished with three steals.
     Mayo was one of three SSU players to finish with 14 points, with Williams and Jason Steele also reaching the mark.
     Mayo also yanked down a game-best eight rebounds for the Bears, while Tyreon Payne had three assists and a pair of steals.
     Shawnee State shot 55.6 percent overall (25-for-45) and 47.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc (9-for-19), while also going 25-for-29 at the foul line (86.2%), including 18-for-22 (81.8%) in the second half.
     SSU also outrebounded Rio, 27-18.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, weather permitting, at Oakland City University in its final road game of the regular season.
     Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. EST.
`   The Mighty Oaks are coached by former Rio bench boss Ken French.